Page 138 of Heart of The Night

‘Sounds like a bargain.’

He picked up another chocolate, his smile growing cheeky. ‘Who knows? Maybe you’ll never move out again.’

My breath hitched in my throat as I held his gaze. The possibility echoed in my mind, thrilling and a little daunting. But as I watched him smile, all I felt was the warm assurance that wherever this led, it was exactly where I wanted to be.

‘Who knows, indeed,’ I replied, mirroring his smile.

31 | the cavalry’s arrived

CARA

I could barely believe my eyes when Jason and I parked outside the hospital. A woman was exiting the building, sobbing, and the mere sight of her made my blood run cold. She wiped her tear-streaked cheeks, her caramel-coloured hair falling messily around that face – so hauntingly familiar, so deceptively beautiful. The curve of her jawline, the set of her shoulders – it was unmistakable. The sunlight hit her brown skin, giving it that same warm glow that once made her seem almost angelic. But now, all I felt was a tightening knot of disgust in my stomach.

Francesca.

The name echoed in my mind like a curse. She was the last person I expected – or wanted – to see. And yet, there she was, walking through the car park as if she had any right to be here, as if she wasn’t the reason William had been lying in a hospital bed for the past two weeks.

A surge of nausea and fury rose in me, and I gripped the steering wheel to keep myself from bolting out of the car. What the hell was she doing here? The urge to confront her, to scream at her to stay the hell away, to unleash every ounce of hatred I’d been harbouring, was almost unbearable.

Jason’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, but it felt distant, as if coming from underwater. ‘Who’s that?’

He must have seen the horror on my face. Unable to tear my eyes off her, I whispered, ‘It’s Francesca.’

‘What?’ Jason’s voice exploded with shock and anger. In an instant, he threw open the door and stormed out of the car. ‘Hey! You! What the fuck are you doing here?’

Francesca froze mid-step, her hazel eyes snapping to Jason, wide with fear, like a deer caught in the headlights. She looked small, almost shrinking into herself as his words lashed out at her. I hurried out of the car, my pulse thudding with a blend of rage and dread. As soon as I rounded the front, Francesca’s eyes darted to mine, and I saw the fear deepen in her gaze. Her whole body tensed as if bracing for the onslaught.

‘I-I was j-just leaving,’ she stammered, her voice shaky and fragile. She quickly turned away.

‘Don’t you fucking dare show your face around here again!’ Jason’s voice was a roar, spilling with a fury that was deafening. ‘Do you hear me? You stay the hell away from him! From all of us!’

Francesca flinched, her shoulders hunching as if she could somehow make herself invisible. She didn’t even attempt to argue, to defend herself. She started to move faster, desperate to get away, but Jason wasn’t finished.

‘You’ve done enough damage!’ he spat, taking another menacing step toward her. ‘Don’t you ever come near him again, or I swear—’

‘Jason, stop,’ I said, my voice brimming with controlled anger as I finally found the strength to speak. I gripped his arm tightly, feeling the tremors of rage coursing through him, the raw, unchecked fury just beneath the surface. His whole body was taut with the desire to do something, anything, to make her pay.

I fixed Francesca with a glare that burned with a hatred words could never fully express. I wanted to scream at her, to unleash every bit of pain she’d caused. But I forced myself to stay in control, to be more than the darkness she had brought over us.

‘Go ahead and leave, Francesca,’ I said. ‘You’ve done enough damage to last a lifetime. But don’t think for a second that we’ll ever forgive you. William could’ve died because of you.’

Francesca’s eyes flickered back to me, and for a moment, I saw something that looked like contrition in her gaze. But it wasn’t enough – not nearly enough. Without another word, she turned and fled, her footsteps quickening as she nearly broke into a run.

As she disappeared around the corner, I realised my hands were trembling. The rage, the pain – it all threatened to spill over, but I willed myself to hold it together.

Jason stood tense, his chest heaving with the weight of his anger. I could still feel the tremors running through his arm, pulsing against my grip. For a moment, neither of us moved, as if Francesca’s departure hadn’t fully released us from the grip of our fury.

‘Jase,’ I murmured, searching his face for any sign that he was calming down. His jaw was clenched so tight I feared it might crack under the pressure, his eyes still fixed on the spot where Francesca had disappeared.

Finally, he exhaled, a sharp breath that seemed to take some of the tension with it. He looked down at me, his expression softening just a fraction.

‘You okay?’ he asked, though his voice was still rough around the edges, tinged with residual anger.

‘Yeah,’ I replied, though I wasn’t entirely sure I believed it. My heart was still pounding, and the adrenaline was still making my hands shake. ‘Are you?’

He nodded, but his eyes betrayed him – still dark, still simmering. ‘Let’s just go to William.’

We walked toward the hospital entrance in silence. Jason’s hands were balled into fists at his sides, and I could see the stiffness in his broad shoulders, the way he was holding himself together by sheer willpower. I wasn’t much better – my own body felt taut, coiled, as if one wrong word might send me spiralling again.

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